CELEBRITY: A 21ST CENTURY STORY BBC2, 9pm
THE fame game and the world of celebrity has become a very different place this century. Driven by technology and the media, fame has become a valuable currency and become validated as an aspiration in its own right.
This new fourpart documentary series looks at how and why this transformation has taken place, and speaks to the people pulling the strings, as well as the celebrities themselves to find out more.
It actually starts in 1999, not technically the 21st century obviously, but that was the year of
David and Victoria Beckham’s wedding and their £1m magazine deal, so they couldn’t leave that out.
From there we have the start of Pop Idol, where the public could vote to make pop stars out of ordinary people, and the launch of the first proper reality show, Big Brother.
Contributors include showbiz agents and journalists, and celebs including Gareth Gates and Katie Price (not together, that’d be awkward).